Health: Access to Care

 

Studies have shown that people with disabilities tend to be in poorer health and experience a higher prevalence of secondary conditions while also using preventative services at lower rates than people who do not have disabilities. In addition, people with disabilities experience more problems accessing health care than other groups, and these difficulties increase for those with the most significant disabilities and who are in the poorest health.

Problems with accessing health care stem in part from barriers to care including limited medical facility accessibility; lack of accommodations such as Sign Language Interpreters and materials in formats that are accessible to people who are blind or have vision impairments. Barriers also include lack of provider education and disability awareness, disability stereotypes and misconceptions, lack of insurance or insurance coverage limits, and lack of care coordination.

Unequal treatment diminishes the opportunity of people with disabilities for longer, productive lives and can compromise the quality of those lives.

We are working to improve access to healthcare services and programs for people with disabilities by creating informational and training materials for health plans, advocates, parents and attorneys; creating assessment tools for health plans; drafting state and federal legislation; participating in the California Disability Health Coalition (DHC); and providing legal representation for children who require diabetes care in school.

Follow the links to read more:

WHAT'S NEW?

Threat of Managed Care for all People with Disabilities and Seniors on Medicaid in California

California's disability community opposes plans by the State Department of Health Care services (DHCS) to seek approval for a Medicaid 1115 waiver from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Medicare and Medicaid to move seniors and people with disabilities into mandatory managed care within a twelve month period following HHS approval of the request.

The mandatory and precipitous enrollment of people with disabilities into the state’s established managed care infrastructure will put thousands and thousands in our community at grave risk. Both DHCS and managed care plans are not fully aware of the extent to which current provider networks fail to comply with the physical and programmatic access requirements of federal and state disability rights laws. Neither can present evidence of having significant or long-term successful experiences with medical homes or the degree of care coordination required to maintain maximum health and function for some people with disabilities who have complex medical and chronic conditions.

The State’s Plan

Required State Legislation

Disability, Senior and Low Income Organizations Opposition Letters

 

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

Solicitation of input on defining "Medically Underserved Population"

Read DREDF's June 9, 2010 letter in support of adding people with disabilities

  • Healthcare Reform

  • DREDF Healthcare Access Analyses

  • Selected Readings and Resources

  • California Disability Health Coalition

  • California Legislation on Durable Medical Equipment

  • Diabetes Training for Parents

  • Performance Standards for California Managed Care Organizations

  • The Barrier Free Healthcare Initiative

  • Bibliography

    • For more information about our healthcare work, contact us at info@dredf.org

     

    Healthcare Reform

     

    DREDF Healthcare Access Analyses

    Selected Readings and Resources

     

    California Disability Health Coalition

     

    California Legislation to Remove Benefit Limits on Durable Medical Equipment

    • Every year since 2007, DREDF has sponsored California legislation to remove benefit limits imposed by private health plans on durable medical equipment. The first year, our bill was passed by the Senate and Assembly with bi-partisan support, but the Governor failed to sign it. The bill introduced by Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D—Arcata) in 2009 died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, as did numerous other bills, due to the state's budget crisis.

      This year—2010—Assemblymember Chesbro again introduced a bill, which would require private group and individual health plans to cover Durable Medical Equipment (DME) and to do so without limiting the annual DME benefit. (Many private health plans in California now limit DME coverage to around $2000 annually.)

      DME can change the lives of people with disabilities by fostering independence, self-reliance and community participation, reducing or eliminating preventable pain, and warding off additional disabilities. When such equipment cannot be obtained, people with disabilities can face increased medical problems, a loss of autonomy, and confinement in their homes or even in institutions.

      If you live in California and have had problems acquiring needed DME because your private health plan limits your annual benefit or your plan does not offer DME coverage at all, we would like to hear from you.

      We've created a brief survey on the Survey Monkey website to collect information about DME coverage. Our experience has been that Survey Monkey has made its survey tool accessible, but if you have any difficulty accessing or using the survey, please contact us at info@dredf.org to let us know.

      (See the archive for more information on the history of the fight for DME coverage in California.)


    Training Parents and Providers on School-Based Healthcare Services for California Children with Chronic Health Conditions

    • DREDF, along with the American Diabetes Association, has developed a Sample 504 Plan and a Sample Health Plan for parents to use as a model when creating individualized plans for their own children


    Performance Standards for California Managed Care Organizations

     

    For more information about our healthcare work contact us at info@dredf.org